Public pressure required for Ride2School program funding

Update: on the 22nd December, Minister Rene Hidding requested the Road Safety Advisory Council to continue their funding of the program into 2017.

“I have written to the chair of the RSAC (Road Safety Advisory Council) asking him to seek council members’ agreement to a one-year extension of funding through the Road Safety Levy funds to allow government to do further analysis of the program,” Mr Hidding said [Examiner, 22 Dec 2016].

We are delighted at this news.

As at 9 January 2017 we have not heard anything further, but hope to hear confirmation of the renewal of funding soon.

For the past six months, Bicycle Network in Tasmania has been laying out the case for the re-funding by the State Government of our Ride2School program. With the school year drawing to a close, and the need to plan for next year, we now need a decision.

And we need the backing of you, our members. We need you to get in the ear of your members of parliament so that this vital program can continue.

It is critical to the future health of Tasmanians, the livability factor of Tasmania, safety on our roads, and in building a generation of enthusiastic, fit and competent bike riders.

A total of 76 primary schools have registered in Tasmania since Ride2School launched in September 2015 and 21 schools regularly record data and show an increased rate of active students since our commitment to Tasmania.

This last year’s pilot program was funded by the road safety levy but the Road Safety Advisory Council believes there are not sufficient road safety elements in Ride2School for this to continue.

Now the biggest hurdle to funding is that the $120,000 we need will have to come (it seems) from three or four separate government departments. We will be meeting with officers of the ministers for Health, Infrastructure, Education and the Premier this week, to that end. There appears to be acceptance at an adviser level that the program is important in encouraging healthy habits from an early age in our children, and that primary schools are the place to start. But we have been encouraged to seek multi-department funding, which will emphasise the Government’s whole-of-government approach to our health challenges.

There is also a view in Government that teachers could roll out Ride2School - we believe that view is driven solely by cost considerations. Ride2School brings an expertise from our organisation that teachers would have neither the time or expertise to take on. You only have to witness our Ride2School coordinator Phil Joughin in action to see the truth of that. We have also pointed out that the costs in diverting teachers in, say 100 schools, to the task would cost considerably more in teaching time lost.

What we have been saying to the Government is that Ride2School is the ideal vehicle to help deliver on the Government’s target to make Tasmania the healthiest state in the nation by 2025 – and there is no doubt Michael Ferguson is on a mission in that regard.

We have some excellent allies. The RACT has tipped in $20,000 to allow us to complete the year. The Heart Foundation and the Beacon Foundation are firm friends as Ride2School completely aligns with their own strategies in health and education.

So, please get behind your school community and make these points to your local MP:

That Ride2School is a vital part of the State Government’s Healthy Tasmania Strategy, which aims to make Tasmania the healthiest state in the nation by 2025.

That the early years are the best place to start in creating life-long healthy habits and therefore the Ride2School program in Tasmanian primary schools is well targeted.

That better health equals better results on the classroom and helps create a learning environment that benefits both students and teachers.

That shifting the responsibility for a health and wellbeing program to teachers imposes an added burden on their time. Notwithstanding the passion and commitment of teachers in the current program, this would rob such programs of expertise, consistency across schools, and the capacity to measure results.

The past 30 years has seen a rapid decline in children being physically active. In the 1970s more than 80 per cent of students walked or rode to school but that number has fallen to 20 per cent today despite the fact that most primary students still live within two kilometres of their school gate.

More children riding or walking means more physical activity, which contributes to health and wellbeing. That’s in Tasmania’s best interests.

Hodgman, The Honourable William Edward Felix (Will)PremierMinister for Tourism, Hospitality and Events.Minister for Sport and Recreation.Minister for Aboriginal Affairs.will.hodgman@parliament.tas.gov.auFranklin